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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

MINYA: Battle for Egypt’s ancient Roman site: Antinopolis

According to The Art Newspaper, leading archaeologists have
denounced the poor state of conservation of the Roman remains at Antinopolis in
Egypt, the city built by Emperor Hadrian, who ruled Rome from 117 A.D. to 138
A.D. The revolution that swept through the country in 2011 and the subsequent
exit of its president, Hosni Mubarak, who is currently in jail facing
corruption charges, have affected the security and conservation of many
historical sites in the country, especially those that are far from major city
centers. Antinopolis, located near the Nile over 30 kilometer south of the
nearest large town, Minya, is a perfect target. Until recently, the Roman
hippodrome there was still intact, although it has now been swallowed by the
ever-expanding cemetery for the neighboring small town called Sheikh ‘Ibada.
Out of the four hippodromes built by the Romans in Egypt, this was the only one
that survived. Large areas are being prepared for redevelopment and parts of
the ancient necropolis on the north of the site have already been converted
into farmland, reported The Art Newspaper.

Egyptian authorities

According to The Art Newspaper, Rosario
Pintaudi, an Italian archaeologist from the Vitelli Papyrological Institute,
Florence, has raised the alarm and involved other leading archaeologists, such
as Jay Heidel, from Chicago University’s Oriental Institute, to bring the issue
to the attention of the Egyptian authorities. Pintaudi claims that, thanks to Americaninvolvement,
he obtained a meeting with Mohammed Ibrahim, the minister of antiquities, who
only promised to address the matter when he realized that a nearby temple,
built by Rameses II, is also under threat. “It’s a battle,” said Pintaudi,
“groups of children pass by us, grinning, armed with spades with which they dig
out artifacts and sell them. People don’t like our presence here.”

Raymond Johnson, the director of the
archaeological mission from the University of Chicago in Luxor, said: “This is
a disgrace, it’s a real tragedy. After the meeting with the minister they
increased the number of guards, but many of them are from the same families as
those that pillage the site.”

Minya famous sites :

* The village of Bani Hasanhouses 390 rock-cut decorated tombs
and chapels from the Middle Kingdom (2000–1580 B.C., especially
the sixteenth dynasty).

* Akhetaten (Tel Amarna) was built
by Pharaoh Akhenaten and dedicated to the
god Aten. Akhenaten lived there in isolation with his beautiful
wife, Nefertiti, and daughters, devoting himself to themonotheistic
religion that he preached. The glorious remains of the palaces, temples
and tombs still exist today.